Healing Gardens

STILL IN PROGRESS 

References thus far:

Plants of the Pacif Northwest Coast [Pojar] and Wikipedia.com, Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West [Moore], Stalking the Wild Asparagus [Gibbons] and Healing Secrets of the Native Americans [Shimer].

Touch –me-not- Impatiens noli-tangere, jewelweed

Description: succulent annual- egg shaped leaves- yellow flowers- small fruits that burst when touched          

Habitat: moist forests, streamsides and banks, thickets            

Uses: jewelweed used for bee stings, poison ivy rash and insect bites

Pacific willow- Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra

Description:  slender and tall- waxy, glossy twigs- smooth leaves with soft edges and pointed ends- yellow hairy flowers

Habitat: river banks, lakeshores, wet meadows

Uses: bark has strong medicinal properties that are similar to aspirin  

Salal- Gaultheria shallon

Description: one of the most common forest understory shrubs- creeping- usually shorter, but may vary- leathery, egg shaped leaves- white flowers- reddish berries

Habitat: coniferous forests, yet found in a number of habitats

Uses: berries eaten by a number of indigenous groups, sometimes leaves were chewed as a hunger suppressant, berries used to sweeten food or made into jam

Skunk cabbage- Lysichiton americanum, swamp lantern.

Description: Large leaved perennial- yellow flowers- berry like fruits.

Habitat: swamps, wet forest and wet meadows.          

Uses: leaves served as “Indian wax paper” for lining berry baskets, eaten during famine

Salmonberry- Rubus spectabilis Description: erect, golden-brown, prickled branches- darker sharply-toothed leaves- yellow and red mushy edible berries          

Habitat: found in moist places, especially along stream edges            

Uses: berries were eaten, as well as the sprouts R

ushes- still having trouble identifying this, I feel as though it might be a sedges

Alder - Alnus spp. Leaves and bark are used as an astringent; it is mildly heating and helps to tonify the small intenstine lining to improve food absorption and fat metabolism

Wild rose - Rosa gymnocarpa or nootkama, rosaceae.  Rosehips are rich in vit c and lavinoids.  Roise oil is calming and cooling, relieving stress.  Rose water is an astringent and tightens the skin when applied as a wash.  Use the dried flower buds, leaves and hips (after a good frost, says Moore).  Infuse buds in water for an eyewash.  Leaves are used as an astringent.

Horsetail - Equisetum arvense, equisitaceae.  The whole herb is used, dried as a diuretic and kidney tonic, to strenghten the mesenchym in kidneys, lungs and liver.  The tea is used as a hair rinse as well as a urinary tract cleansure.  The roots are palatable (often cooked), young fertile shoots are eaten when peeled and cooked.  It also absorbs heavy metals and is high in silica therefore irritating the urinary tract and kidneys if not boiled.  Since it is high in calcium and is good for healing bones and connective tissue functions.

Fireweed - Epilobium angustifolium, onograceae.  Collect the flowers as far down the stem as there are green, unwithered leaves.  Make a tea of the lowers for chronic, pasty, diarrhea.  It is used as an anti-inflammatory for the mouth, throat, stomach and intestine.  Externally, it cools, soothes and helps bring down swelling.

Coltsfoot - Petasites Palmatus, Asteraceae.  Collect the leaves in June-August and the stems (plucked at ground level).  Collect the roots in the spring.  The tea made of dried herb is used for coughing and intercostal pain.  The tincture or root tea lessons stomach cramps, spasms in the gallbladder or the colon.  The herb is also smoked for lung irritability (for people who already smoke).  the crushed root poltice is used for sprains and contusions by lessening inflammation.  

Bracken fern- Pteridium aquilinum Description: large fronds- usually solitary- triangular blades with a number of leaflet pairs (usually more than ten on each blade)- ranges in between yellow and green

 Habitat: lakeshores and bogs, dry to wet forests

Uses: Native peoples used leaves as liner for pit ovens, rhizomes eaten ( caused constipation)